Monday
I’m still feeling a bit guilty about missing last week’s Friday session, so I decide to squeeze in an extra gym class at lunchtime. By the end of the day, a storm is raging (well, it’s raining) so I go back to the gym to do my 20-minute run on the treadmill. I’ve never been twice in one day before! I go home to do all my strength exercises, as I’m still too embarrassed to do them in front of strangers. The lunchtime class was probably a mistake, as my muscles feel quite tired, but at least the press-ups and sit-ups are broken down into more manageable chunks today.
A number of readers have emailed on the subject of the strength exercises, and what exactly “2 x press-up max” means. I interpreted it as two sets of however many press-ups you managed in the initial fitness test but, as Phil Jones points out, “Surely if the first maximum really was a maximum you can’t be expected to double it a week later?” Rufus agrees: “I thought the two times maximum press-ups was a misprint!” Sandra takes another view: “I think that 2 x press-up max means 2 x 2 minutes of press-ups, giving it your best.”
So who’s right? Last week I emailed Major Colclough to get the official army ruling. He told me that “max” means “as many as you can manage in two minutes”, as Sandra correctly assumed. He went on to explain: “If your baseline score was 44 I would expect the first set for each of the subsequent weeks (weeks two-four) to be of a similar or slightly increasing number, say somewhere between 40 and 50. However, I would only expect you to achieve between 35-75% of that number on a second and/or subsequent set. I would also expect you to see an improvement in your baseline score when you test yourself on day 7 of week four.”
So that’s cleared that up. I’ll start doing it the right way from now on.
Tuesday
Rest day.
Wednesday
Back to the gym for the ‘one minute fast, two minutes slow’ run (repeated five times). Wednesdays are getting really tough. I’m not alone, though – reader Rufus emails to say, “I thought the Monday and Friday runs were supposed to be the difficult ones, but in actual fact, the Wednesday run is completely knackering!” Indeed, days one and five should be done at ‘moderate’ intensity, day three should be ‘vigorous’, and day seven should be ‘easy’.
After the run I swim a few slow lengths, then go to the spa section for a sauna and steam. It’s incredibly relaxing. I then go out for beer and curry. What’s the point of exercise if you can’t enjoy yourself afterwards?
Thursday
I do my usual korfball training instead of having a rest day, but I’m not feeling very well. I think I’m coming down with a cold.
Friday
I have a full-blown cold and feel terrible, so I take the day off work and stay under the duvet. Army fitness training is the last thing I feel like doing. A sniffle might not be a very good excuse for seasoned soldiers, but I think it entitles me to a day off.
Saturday
I’m feeling a lot better today, so I head over to Canterbury for a korfball tournament. I play several short games all through the day, and feel I’ve made up for yesterday’s hibernation.
Sunday
More korfball today: two hour-long league matches. A takeaway and an early night beckon, as the cold’s still lingering. I can’t believe the second fitness test is at the end of next week …
· Are you following the official army fitness programme? Email [email protected] to share your experiences in next week’s training diary
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